The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-11-05

How He Came 70 be q Pilot on the
xississippi

6kuluCcuL StS8IIlcE lily VI DAtOu
Rouge, is the most popular man on
waters. Capt. Bixby is q
we'll preserved relic of the golden
age Of the river, and has been a
constant student of currents and
chutes for forty years. Horace
Bixby is the man who taught Mark
Twain how to steer q steamboat,
and the success of his whilom cub
has reflected considerable glory on
the tutor. That was away back in
the SOS, when Bixby was = pilot,
and after all these years he is now
of the opinion that pilot is a big
ger man than a captain any day,
and especially on a dark night in a
tight place. Capt. Bixby is now 81
years of age, and he says: II am
just nine and a half years older
than Sam Clemens" When in a
reminiscent mood the other day he
said: ut was quite remarkable
how Sam Clemens happened to be-
come a pilot. He has written a
great deal about it himself, but l
don't believe he ever told it all. 1t
was in the spring of '57. l was
then running regularly between ST..
Louis and New Orleans and occa-
sionally doing an outside job on the
Ohio river from Cincinnati to New
Orleans. 1t was on one of these
outside trips that l first met Glenn
ems. was taking the Paul Jones
down from Cincinnati, and he was
a passenger on board. In those
times the pilot house was great
loafing place for passengers and
pilots out of work. They came in,
spit all over the wheel, swapped
lies, and then left the pilot on duty
to slosh around in the debris. l
didn't like it a bit, and l was mighty
short with all passengers who at
tempted to talk with me. One morn
ing when the boat reached Island
No. 35 in the Mississippi river, and
we were booming along at a good
gait, a young man walked into the
pilot house, and after watching me
for a few minutes, said Good
morning" in drawling man
ner."
81 said good morning. mighty
sharp, thinking it would freeze him
out. But it didn't. He said:
"D-o-n't YOU w-a-n-t boy t-c
learn the r-i-v-e-r?"
"No; don't want any boy to learr
the river. What are you pulling
your words that way for?"
81 don't know, YOU will
have to ask my mother
She does the Same thing
81 thought he was chatting mt
when he said that and l looked up
but his face was just as sober as :
preachers. He then asked me if
knew the Bowens who were on tn,
river. / told him that l did anC
worked with one of them in 1858
He told me that the BOwens live(
next door to his father, Judg'
Clemens, of Hannibal, Mo. In hi
drawling way he told me of hi
plans. He had learned printing a
Hannibal on his brothers paper
but it did not agree with him.. ant
he was going to South America TO
his health. He liked the river
however, and would abandon hi
projected invasion of South Amer
lea for an opportunity to become
pilot.
"There is only one thing tina
would induce me to teach you tn
river" said l.
"W-h-a-t-'s t-h-a-t?" he asked.
"Money," said l.
Money" he echoed.
"That's just it," answered.
allow much?" he gasped.
"Five hundred dollars" l said.
"We-ll, l ai-n't got that much,
said he.
"Then you better get it, if yo
want to learn the river" | replied
ave got eight lots up j
K-e-o-k-u-k, Iowa, but l don
know what they w-o-u-l-
bring, an I've got 1000 acre
of land in Tennessee that l ca
get twenty-five cents an acre for
said he, summing up his asset
We talked for some time and b
impressed me very favorably.
was finally agreed that he was I
nav me $iOO down and SIS ever
six months until the debt was pait
I told him that he would have
provide his own clothes and boar
while in port. On the river b
would receive his board and lodi
ing free. He started in as cub Q
the Aleck Scott and he learne
rapidly. He was then just past 2
and rather eccentric. He had wri
ing paper and pencil around Il
pilot house, and was eternally scrl
bling away at something. l seldol
ever tried to investigate the myst
RES of his manuscript, but / SOC
turned his talent to good accoun
In those days pilots made out 7
ports of the condition OF the cna
ri end Clemens at once develops